UN panel slams Vatican over sex abuse cases and policies

A United Nations panel has released a report that condemns much of the Vatican’s practices and policies regarding sexual abuse and accused priests. The UN panel notes that “tens of thousands of children worldwide” have been sexually abused.

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has called out the Vatican in a report over its protection of pedophilic priests as well as accusing the Catholic Church of not doing enough, reports The Telegraph. The panel said that the Church should “immediately remove all known and suspected child sexual abusers from assignment.”

The panel was not happy with the Vatican’s tendency to shuffle around accused or guilty priests away from their previous diocese to another, leaving them still “in contact with children” allowing these priests “to continue to abuse them.”

According to The Washington Post, the UN panel also blasted the Catholic Church’s practice of “code of silence” that often tamped down on sexual abuse accusations within a church.

The panel would like internal investigation reports released, as many victims are forced to remain quiet in exchange for financial compensation or investigations are quieted altogether.

The Vatican isn’t happy with the report and feels that the UN overstepped its bounds. UN Vatican observer Silvano Maria Tomasi said, “Trying to ask the Holly See to change its teachings is not negotiable,” referring to the report questioning some of the Church’s ideological teachings.